janetofreno's Profile
Generally scorned products that are madly delicious -- in certain applications
Coriander powder and/or Coriander seed can be found in the spice section of most supermarkets (since some folks use it in baking). I'm pretty sure McCormick sells it...so its pretty common. Usually no Indian market needed to get it. That being said, the dish will be fine without it......maybe add a pinch more cumin...
Will you be looking for anything specific at yard sales this season?
Hubby came home from a garage sale yesterday with one of those two-cup sized Pyrex measuring cups. He considered it a "find" for 50 cents; it looked like it had never been used. I'm sure it was an older version...but we wouldn't use it in the microwave anyway.....
He also finds a lot of cast iron pans and casserole dishes at garage sales. I have good luck with wine glasses. And of course we are ALWAYS on the lookout for additions to our martini glass collection:-)
Big Island Report
I'm thinking back to when *I* was more of a regular at Mitchell's in SF (when it was around the corner from Susan's house....)...and I vaguely remember ube ice cream there as well. But it was only in the last week or so that I even realized ube and rotaru are the same thing....someone sent a picture of one they saw at a farmer's market in San Diego and asked a bunch of friends what it was. My husband said "It's Rotaru!" and got so excited he almost jumped in the car and drove across the desert to buy some (Fresh rotaru is non-existent in Nevada:-) and my Oahu friend I mentioned earlier said 'That's Ube!" So now we know.....:-). Will defnitely try and check out Mitchell's to see if they do have it next time I'm in SF....or may just end up at Dave's:-)
Big Island Report
Maybe one of the locals can comment on Dave's...is it a local (ie Hawaii) chain? My friend in Honolulu keeps raving about an ice cream place there called Dave's......with exotic flavors like ube....The thought of ube ice cream (the same root is known as rotaru in Gujarat where dh is from, and he loves it; aka purple yam....) almost has hubby ready to get on a plane to Honolulu......
Friday Farmer's Market Downtown
The Springs Preserve market IS a continuation of the Molto Vegas market, but I was under the impression that the one downtown was somehow connected to it as well.....but I could be wrong:-)
smart phones @ bay area restaurants [moved from San Francisco board]
My husband doesn't let me check email on my smart phone when HE is driving. He says that the glare off the screen distracts him. He's ok with me reading a book or the kindle (the relatively low-tech, non-lighted screen version....). So I can see where folks might be bothered the same way when they are dining....
Friday Farmer's Market Downtown
I believe that the Friday downtown Farmer's Market is connected with the Spring's Preserve one...run by the same people (or at least that's what I remember hearing on the NPR radio show where I first heard about the Springs Preserve market). I forgot to mention that when I posted on the SP market, mainly because I couldn't remember what day it was....btw, can anyone tell me the exact times/location of the Friday market? I work near downtown on Fridays, and might be able to sneak away someday......
so it's a chain, get over it [moved from Chains board]
I just thought of one more time a chain meal is required: about once a month, when I get a craving for Popeye's spicy chicken. DH just shook his head when he found the discarded bag in the trash last week:-)
POLL: Can you walk to an actual grocery store?
I live in what could only be described as suburban Las Vegas (yes, such a place exists:-) and there is one shopping center about a half-mile from my house. It contains a large supermarket, several fast food restaurants (which I have never patronized), a Chinese take-out place, small pizza place, dry cleaners, etc. I confess I have never walked there, largely because I do my shopping on the way home from work. However, I have walked to the park which is right across the street from the shopping area many times, so I know its easily doable.
My goal for retirement is to live somewhere where I can walk to most needed businesses. Actually, I find cities better suited for this than rural or suburban areas, so I'm pretty sure I will retire to at least a mid-sized city (and live downtown).....
Komex Fusion Express?
Today is one of those days where I am trying to find any excuse I can NOT to get things done....so I've been randomly surfing around the net. It started with a craving for twice-cooked pork, which is something I can only eat when DH is out of town (he doesn't eat pork and doesn't really like Chinese food anyway...). There is a little Chinese take-out place near my house that is ok, but no twice-cooked pork on the menu. So while searching on the web for other places I happened to come upon a mention of this place: Komex Fusion Express. This Mexican-Korean fusion place (think Korean tacos, but in a restaurant instead of a truck) gets a lot of good reviews on line and in the Vegas Weekly etc. Its in a neighborhood I'm sure many hounds don't visit often (Decatur just south of Washington)....but that's close enough to work that I could probably make it there on a lunch hour assuming I wasn't too busy that day. The prospect of bulgogi tacos was enough to make me head on down there this evening...until I noticed they are closed Mondays.
So I decided to see what the hounds have to say about the place, but my search turned up empty. Not too surprising, after all this Vegas board seems to cater to tourist suggestions, and I doubt many tourists will end up at the corner of Decatur and Washington:-) But I thought I would ask anyway: any of you been there? Thoughts? Anyone who might want to have a chowdown lunch or after-work early snack with me to check it out some day, let me know....my email address is in my profile. I just might head there Wednesday, since that seems to be the day of the week I'm least busy:-)
so it's a chain, get over it [moved from Chains board]
Actually, I've found that MOST egg mcmuffins are worth eating. And that nothing else at McDonald's really is, although the fries and the coffee aren't bad. And that, to me, is the purpose of a "Chains" board: so that we can figure out what we SHOULD choose when the chain is the only obvious choice (road trips, late at night, office meals, etc -- there are plenty of situations where a chain meal might be required....).
Craft Cocktails or Mixology Cocktails
Probably too late but if you were here last weekend you probably didn't want to be on the patio at night in Vegas...lol, Canadian or not. We were far colder than many of our neighbors to the north and east - with wind and rain as well. Personally, I'll way until May to sit outside:-)
Going back to an earlier post, are there any specialty cocktails at the Chandelier bar anyone recommends? Taking my son there this weekend on his request....
When do ethics come to play in your dining decision?
Wow, Steve, now you have me curious as to which restaurant (I assume it was in th Reno area) and who the world figure was....
I thought about this a lot, and I can't remember ever specifically boycotting a restaurant because of their ethics or a political position. I'm not at all fond of a certain casino group in Las Vegas that has been running very nasty anti-union ads, but I've been known to eat there occasionally and probably still will...although I'll grumble about it a bit. After all, they have an outpost two blocks from my house and its certainly a convenient place for a late-night snack or to put up guests....
The question becomes more interesting if the restaurant involved was a place you had the best food in town. At what point do you put aside ethics for the best? Let me answer with an ethical dilemna I faced: there was a certain surgeon that I might refer patients to occasionally. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a good surgeon, actually one of the best. Patients would always be happy with his care, and for good reason. But I also had strong reason to believe that said surgeon was less than ethical in his business dealings. In fact, I am convinced that some of his actions bordered on criminal. I decided that I could not be party even indirectly to his success, so I decided NOT to recommend his services. Fortunately there are other good surgeons in town.
So I guess my answer is: It depends:-) If there is a line you won't cross, however, stick with it.....
POLL: Can you walk to an actual grocery store?
My son recently returned from two years living in Japan, and he says that the 7-11s in the Tokyo area were party central. (His apartment was in a residential area that might be considered the "burbs" here - although there were many nearby businesses - but he worked in central Tokyo). Anyway, the parking lot of the 7-11 a block or so from his apartment was often inhabited by folks drinking and socializing. These were not homeless people but just folks getting together as you might in a neighborhood bar in this country. When they got off the train in the evening they would stop at 7-11, buy beer (and maybe something to eat), and sit or stand around talking with friends and neighbors who would do the exact same thing. If they ran out of beer they would just go inside and buy more. Apparently the store management was perfectly happy with their presence. He told me that he witnessed similar scenes throughout Japan. And yes, he said that the 7-11s there were "way cooler" than in the US :-)
Two weeks in California
I prefer the Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen to its larger sister the Girl and the Fig in Sonoma....and it has the advantage of being right where you are staying...plus if I recall correctly they have free corkage (at least for Sonoma wines:-) - so you can indulge and not have to worry about driving back .... My dad lives in Glen Ellen, so we try and visit as often as possible...Actually one of the best meals I've had in the last six months was had there back in November....the lamb was to die for. One thing I like about the Fig Cafe is that you can just have a burger or a salad, or you can have a more complete meal...but either way you will have enjoyed a nice meal!. One other tip: the back patio area of the Awahnee is my favorite place in the world for a drink....in fact, you could do far worse than making drinks and apps out there your "dinner" for that night.....(and the world's best view is just gravy:-)
Vail - romantic, not too pricey, open Sunday night?
Report back: as is often the case in our adventures, we ended up going a completely different route (no "romantic") But it turned out ok anyway. We decided to take Blue Ox's advice and walk through Vail Village, maybe having just drinks and apps at a couple of places. But it soon became obvious that no place would be quiet; the first two or three we tried really didn't even have room at the bar. Meanwhile, DH had worn only a sweater and no hat, since the day had been so warm. But the temps were falling rapidly after sunset and he was anxious to get inside someplace warm. So when he noticed a sign on the outside of the Red Lion Inn advertising a daily special of black bean soup (one of his all-time favorites) we had to go in. Of course, the place is far from romantic, especially given that we were seated next to a table with about five (fortunately well-behaved) children. But there was Fat Tire on tap, the onion rings are some of the best I've had in years (hand battered and thick slices), and the Bulls were on TV...so hubby was warm and happy. The black bean soup was very good; a huge serving in a bread bowl. I had the baby back ribs, which have a nice smoky rub and the perfect tender chewiness. I didn't care for the sauce (too sweet), but had asked for it on the side and they really didn't need sauce with that rub anyway. Dinner was satisfying if not romantic, and the price was right (just around 60 dollars including beers, tax, and tip). We finished with some English toffee from Rocky Mountain Chocolate company...it may be a chain but the toffee is good and that is another of DH's favorites...so he was happy and romantic and the evening ended well:-)
Vail - romantic, not too pricey, open Sunday night?
Thanks, I like that idea! Gives me a chance to do a little window shopping too.....
Vail - romantic, not too pricey, open Sunday night?
We are staying at the Holiday Inn, largely because that's where DH is working. He likes the Japanese restaurant there, but the only reference I've found to it on chowhound is that food was ok and inexpensive for lunch, but that the atmosphere is somewhat lacking. DH isn't nearly as picky about atmosphere as I am:-) What do I consider not too pricey? Well, I would rather keep our meal under 100 bucks before drinks.....
@Blue OX: DH is apparently aware of the rock concert: he tells me that the reason we are arriving Sunday and not Saturday is that apparently the hotel is sold out Saturday night. When you are a guest of the hotel (and one of their vendors) you try not to take a room that they could sell.....He tells me that he would rather stick close to the hotel. This is my first trip to Vail so I have no idea what that means......although apparently it is right off of highway 70. Your suggestion looks lovely but probably on the upper edge of our price range. We will have a car...any suggestions close to "home"? Ethnic is fine and it doesn't even have to be that romantic if its fun or maybe has some live entertainment. We don't do steakhouses, however (DH doesn't eat red meat....)
Vail - romantic, not too pricey, open Sunday night?
OK, so maybe I'm dreaming. DH has been on a job that has taken him to Vail several times over the last few weeks. He'll be there again this weekend, and I got tired of listening him to talk about how pretty it was. So this time I'm tagging along...figured I could indulge in a little winter recreation while he works........We'll be arriving Sunday, and that will be our main "date night" for the week. Soooo...any ideas? We're trying to keep cost down (hotel is comped through the work, fortunately. :-) . Something with a fireplace would be wonderful; ever since I moved to Vegas I don't do winter....but I'm willing to forgo that rule for a chance to enjoy some fresh powder:-)
Gourmet cupcakes in Vegas?
BTW, I wanted a treat for my hubbie's birthday last night but knew that we would never eat an entire cake. So I made the trek out to Retro (I just went home from work the long way:-)...and he LOVED the cupcakes! I couldn't decide on flavors so I got three, and we ended up splitting all three. Coconut, Mocha chocolate, and strawberry-and-chocolate. As I suspected it would be, the coconut was both of our favorite:-) But all were very good; the cake is very moist and the buttercream is fantastic. Definitely a good choice!
The authenticity of a restaurant, or "what's the ethnicity of your server?"
And also keep in mind that the various ethnic groups who have immigrated to North America and the US over the years also immigrated elsewhere...and may well be from other countries despite their ethnicity or race.
My favorite South Indian restaurant, the lamented and long-gone Sapna in Reno, NV (where DH and I had a long-standing Friday lunch date for years) was owned by a man named Jimmy Wong, who was (obviously) of Chinese descent. But he had grown up in India and was married to an East Indian woman. They were both chefs at the restaurant. It did not surprise me in the least, as when I traveled in India I had learned that many restaurant chefs there are of Chinese descent, especially in western India. In fact, many restaurants in India have a few Chinese dishes mixed in with the mostly Indian menu, for just this reason.
I believe that there are also a fair number of people of Asian descent in Peru, and their dishes often reflect that.
KJ Kitchen Dim Sum at the Rio
Good point; they advertise as a "seafood and dim sum restaurant." I think they serve the regular menu (not the dimsum) in the evening. That's another reason I worry about their existence; there is already a Chinese restaurant in the Rio. I'm quite sure KJ is better, but the other one is closer to the main casino floor and more visible.
KJ Kitchen Dim Sum at the Rio
We were staying there this weekend, thanks to a free Super Bowl weekend stay won by a friend who couldn't use it...and dates weren't exchangeable...
So that was an excuse to try Dim Sum at KJs. The room is huge, and attractive. A few thoughts: overall, I thought the quality was good. My favorites were the custard buns, which I normally don't like, but had ordered in deference to my mostly vegetarian husband (who went along reluctantly, agreeing that he could always just drink tea and keep me company:-) Actually, we found a few dishes that he liked, since he will eat seafood. The shrimp with rice noodles were good, as were the mushrooms stuffed with shrimp. But back to those buns: the pastry was perfect, and that's what I really liked about it. Someone there can make pastry. Another favorite was the soup dumplings...I particularly liked the fact that they serve them in little foil cups so that if your chopstick pierces the dumpling the soup doesn't spill all over your plate....
I thought the prices were very reasonable: we tried about eight different types of dim sum, and the bill was 20 bucks for two, including a pot of tea. It was the morning of Super Bowl Sunday and although the casino was packed the restaurant was less than half full. Hubby is worried they will be gone in six months. And I must admit we were the only non-Asians in the place. Vegas has a fairly large Asian population but maybe not enough to sustain a casino restauant, so you hounds should check it out.
Not a huge number of carts, but enough, and also many items were carried out on trays, which may make sense with the smaller crowd. We were entertained by video of what appears to be the Chinese equivalent of the Food Channel...including a show that gave us the entire story of pork...from the baby pigs suckling through the butchering to rendering and then preparation. Some of the details were less than appetizing; glad DH had his back to the TV:-)
Ice cream parlors in Vegas?
Not sure why, but I have been craving an ice cream Sundae. This morning I realized that if I was in my home town of Oakland I would grab a child (someone's child, any child; to help mitigate the guilt factor) and head down to Fenton's. One black-and-tan and my craving would be gone for another year.
But I can't think of anything remotely close to Fenton's here. Yes, I suppose there is a Swenson's somewhere but I was hoping for something a little less of a chain. And I'm not looking for gelato here; I'm looking for a real sundae. The old-fashioned kind, with whipped cream, hot fudge, and a cherry on top. And I have this sinking feeling that the best options will be in family-oriented Henderson, which is a loooonnnnggg way from my home in Aliante.
Hounds? I really don't want to go to the store and buy the ingredients, because I really don't want to be tempted by leftovers. And then I would have almost an entire jar of marischino cherries staring me in the face:-)
Recs for: Near LVCC, Mexican, and one splurge meal
That's it, thanks! I work near there on Fridays; if they are open for lunch I intend to try it one of these days.....
Recs for: Near LVCC, Mexican, and one splurge meal
ok, I am totally blanking on the name, but on Paradise near the convention center there is a steakhouse that a friend swears is one of the best in Vegas. Its in a smaller hotel; maybe a Holiday Inn or smaller Westin? Does this ring a bell to you QAW? My friend tends to have a very good food sense, so I've been meaning to check it out. Unfortunately, although I could drive straight to it I am totally blanking on the name.....
New Springs Preserve Farmer's Market
I had heard about the new Farmer's Market that runs 10 am to 1pm on Thursdays at the Springs Preserve. I knew my errands today would take me right past there so decided to check it out. This is apparently somehow an offshoot of Mario Batali's market that was shut down due to permit concerns or some such thing.
Glad I went; definitely worth the trip. Admission to the preserve grounds is free on market days, and if you've never spent an hour or so wandering around their gardens its a great excuse to do so. They have some wonderful interpretive exhibits on desert and organic gardening. Beautiful place. The market itself is held within a very large meeting room, so it will be warm, cool, and/or dry regardless of the season.
The market limits itself to food products, so that's a plus for those of us a little tired of seeing more crafts booths than food at local markets. IMO It is larger than any of the small farmer's markets out there. A surprising amount of the produce is grown right in the Las Vegas valley (I bought local spinach; who knew?). Good quality, as they do cater to local restaurants. What isn't truly local mostly comes from the Imperial Valley; close enough. Today's market featured seasonally appropriate foods: lots of green, leafy vegetables; root veggies, and citrus. There is a good choice of products, and some unusual items. (Salsify, blood oranges, some type of lime that looks like an orange with orange flesh but tastes like a lime - forget the name, purple brussel sprouts, etc). Also locally made honey (finally!) and breads. Prices are reasonable given the quality. I started with 20 dollars and left with a large loaf of seven-grain bread, icicle radishes, tangerines, lemons, a big bag of spinach leaves, assorted chiilis and peppers, mini-potatoes in a variety of colors (red, white and purple),and some of those purple brussel sprouts (couldn't resist as I had never seen them before! :-)
I am happy that Thursday I have the morning off, and often have to check our business' PO Box which isn't too far from there, so now I have an excuse to drop by. I recommend other hounds do so as well. Judging by the crowd today, the word has gotten out....go early for best selection Springs Preserve is on Valley View just off the 95 (across the street from Meadows Mall)
Recent dinner at Raku - food as good as usual, but I'm not sure about the service...
A friend was in town for a convention, and had one chance to leave the strip and see the rest of Las Vegas. She wanted something fairly light, doesn't eat much in the way of carbs and is not big on very spicy cuisines. So I decided it was a perfect excuse to revisit Raku - I figured we could eat as little (or as it turned out:-) as much as we wanted. And the food was delicious, but I must admit that there were some service issues that soured it a bit for me...especially after I had hyped the place to my friend.
For starters, when I made the reservation they told me I could have 7pm (I had asked for 7:30) but "only if you can be out in 90 minutes. We have someone else at the table at 8:30"). OK, I made the reservation at the relative last minute (24 hours in advance) so I decided to let that slide (even though I really am not fond of restaurants who play the "we need to use the table" ploy). But it WAS annoying when she repeated before I hung up: "OK, we have you at a table for two at 7pm Friday, out by 8:30" More annoying perhaps was the fact that at least two tables near us were empty the entire time we were there (slightly more than the alloted 90 minutes:-) So being that emphatic may not have been necessary.
But on to the meal. We arrived promplty at 7pm and were seated at a nice table. And proceeded to sit for some time with nothing offered but water. Just when I was thinking of asking, the waitress finally showed with our menus and took our drink order. A few minutes later she returned with a tray of sake cups so that we could choose our favorite; a nice touch that greatly impressed my friend. Unfortunately, the actual sake didn't arrive until a good 25 to 30 minutes later, after we had been served much of our food and asked about the missing drink. In fact, asking for the sake was in itself a problem.....the waitress kept walking past us and NEVER stopped to ask if we needed anything, we practically had to tackle her to get it....
But back again to the meal: the food also took some time to come out (after the sake cups). Cold dishes were first, followed by hot. Everything was delicious, as I mentioned earlier. We were both particularly taken with the crispy asparagus, the lamb chops, and a special of manila clams in broth. I had also ordered tofu in a half-and-half cold and hot-spicy order. I am not a tofu fan but at Raku it is special. My friend is not into tofu...she tried it and admitted the texture is great but only took one bite. Of course, there was plenty left. I was ok with this, because my husband was due to get back from a driving trip out of town around midnight, and I figured the leftovers would make a great "welcome home" snack for him (he loves tofu in all forms). And thus we come to the final service gaffe straw: when I unpacked the neatly wrapped package for him later that evening I discovered that only the cold tofu had made it home...even though there was MORE hot/spicy tofu left over and I specifically asked for both......I felt very badly as I had been telling my husband as I unwrapped it that he was going to LOVE the spicy stuff.....
I just didn't feel the love this trip. I love the food, but sort of felt like maybe my business wasn't all that appreciated . The table of six sitting next to us was getting a lot more solicitous service...I would hate to think it was all related to the size of the bill....I am glad no one said anything to us regarding the fact that we went over our 8:30 deadline...as that probably wouldn't have happened if the service had been timely.....
Sunday breakfast/brunch on the (way) east side...
A group from the office is doing a fundraising run at the Wetlands Pavilion Park next Sunday....and we would like to go out for breakfast afterwards. None of us are familiar with the neighborhood...we're not even sure exactly where it is. Directions put it about at the end of Flamingo on the east side(Flamingo and Hollywood...) . We will be coming from all over so it would be nice to go somewhere fairly close rather than head too far north or south and then force some to backtrack.
As far as the requirements: we aren't very fussy. But remember, we'll be post-run. I'm doing the walk, but at least one co-worker will have done a 10K, and most will have walked or ran at least 5K. So we'll be sweaty and in sweats. Inexpensive is good, and bonus points for a Mexican breakfast. The gang asked me to suggest a place, but I have no clue. So I'm hoping the chowhounds might help out.
Two other requirements: we may pick up a few friends who want to join us once we get there, so a place that can handle a group without a reservation. And the football fans in the group, which means just about all of us, would appreciate a place with a television somewhere....especially if the Niners end up playing in the early game:-)
TIA!
Gourmet cupcakes in Vegas?
The 20 buck surcharge may seem high, but keep in mind they are waaayyy out in the northwestern suburbs so it seems reasonable to me (Retro is a good 20 miles from the strip, maybe more). Very good.....
